Well, maybe not....
The monarchy is a bust with today's Canadians. When asked if they felt a stronger connection to the Queen or the Queen's representative, Governor-General Michaëlle Jean, 20 per cent named the Queen, 10 per cent said the G-G – and a remarkable 70 per cent said “ neither .”
And when asked to look beyond the relatively popular Queen, 65 per cent of Canadians thought the ties to the Crown should be severed once she passes. Only 35 per cent care to think of Prince Charles, who will visit here this fall, as a future king of Canada.
How do you spot a Canadian Republican? It's difficult. They don't advertise themselves. There is no passionate debate in Canada about the monarchy. Only the Australian Republicans were foolish enough to launch a full frontal assault on the Crown. Canadian Republicanism proceeds by stealth. How? Quite simply. There is essentially no mention of the monarchy in the schools, except in passing in history and civics courses. After two generations one of the most fervently monarchist societies on earth is now utterly apathetic about its head of state, and her symbolic import.
Having produced the effect, the Canadian Establishment now claims we must accept the inevitable. The ostensible reason for the fading to black of the monarchy is the Quebec Question, as a different generation would have put it. The French, or French-Canadians as that different generation would have called them, don't like the monarchy. The Exhibit A is the outbreak of a riot when the Queen visited Quebec City in 1964. For the sake of national unity it was best to keep the monarchy in mothballs. This was a cynical position. Those who opposed being subjects of the crown were not going to be reconciled to a Canadian Republic. The problem wasn't who the head of state was, but the state itself. Quebec nationalists have little interest in preserving a united Canada, whatever its constitutional trappings. What the slow undermining of the monarchy has done is remove a vital symbolic unifier, while signaling to Quebec nationalists our lack of will. If the ROC was wiling to all but junk a deeply held symbol, how hard will they fight for the country itself?
2 comments:
I found these results disappointing, though I always wonder about how the poll was worded and conducted when I see such things. "Should we cut the TIES to the BRITISH monarchy?" It imples a foreign power is still holds Canadians back and the negative response is the one for the Crown. On top of that, the I doubt the Dominion Institute's last findings have changed much: 5% of Canadians know who their head of state is. "Oh, we have a queen? Yes, get rid of her." But, like Australia, if Canadians were ever faced with the alternative - another politician chosen by yet more political jockeying and pandering - they'd heartily support the status quo.
I agree James. Note how pollsters never ask the most simple question imaginable. "Do you support The Queen? Yes or No." It ain't rocket science.
Another simple question would be this: "If you were to vote in a referendum tomorrow, would you vote to sever Canada's links with The Crown?"
The education systems in Australia and Canada really need to get their acts together. For I can't think of anything worse (or dangerous) than being educated about your Constitution by the media. Talk about bull in a china shop.
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